A member state of the Caribbean Community is a state that has been specified as a member state within the Treaty of Chaguaramas or any other Caribbean state that is in the opinion of the Conference, able and willing to exercise the rights and assume the obligations of membership in accordance with article 29 of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. Member states are designated as either More economically developed country (MDCs) or Less economically developed countries (LDCs). These designations are not intended to create disparity among member states. The Community was established by mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, but has since become a multilingual organisation in practice with the addition of Dutch-speaking Suriname in 1995 and French-speaking Haiti in 2002. There are fifteen full members of the Caribbean Community, four of which are founding members.
List {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%" |- |style="background:#CFC; width:3em" | || Highest ||style="background:#F96; width:3em" | || Lowest |} Flag State Joined Population Area GDP (PPP)$Million GDP (PPP)per capita HDI(2023) Currency OfficialLanguage(s)(Founder) km2 mi2 Antigua and Barbuda 4 July 1974 $ 2,390 $26,300 0.851 East Caribbean Dollar English Bahamas 4 July 1983 $ 9,339 $25,100 0.820 Bahamian Dollar English Barbados 1 August 1973 $ 4,919 $17,500 0.811 Barbadian Dollar English Belize 1 May 1974 $ 3,230 $ 8,300 0.721 Belize Dollar English Dominica 1 May 1974 $ 851 $12,000 0.761 East Caribbean Dollar English Grenada 1 May 1974 $ 1,590 $14,700 0.793 East Caribbean Dollar English Guyana 1 August 1973 bgcolor=#cfc $ 6,367 $ 8,300 0.776 Guyanese Dollar English Haiti 2 July 2002 $19,880 $ 1,800 0.554 Haitian Gourde French andHaitian Creole Jamaica 1 August 1973 $26,200 $ 9,200 0.720 Jamaican Dollar English Montserrat 1 May 1974 bgcolor=#F95 $ 43.78 $ 8,500 - East Caribbean Dollar English Saint Kitts and Nevis 26 July 1974 $ 1,288 $26,800 0.840 East Caribbean Dollar English Saint Lucia 1 May 1974 $ 2,384 $13,500 0.748 East Caribbean Dollar English Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 May 1974 $ 1,281 $11,600 0.798 East Caribbean Dollar English Suriname 4 July 1995 $ 7,928 $13,900 0.722 Surinamese dollar Dutch Trinidad and Tobago 1 August 1973 $42,780 $31,200 0.807 Trinidad and Tobago Dollar English
Anguilla In July 1999, Anguilla once again became involved with CARICOM when it gained associate membership. Before this, Anguilla had briefly been a part of CARICOM (1974–1980) as a constituent of the full member state of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla.
The Bahamas (1973-1983) The Bahamas had begun participating in the regional cooperation and integration movement when it began attending the Heads of Government Conferences of the Commonwealth Caribbean in 1966. This practice continued even after the establishment of CARIFTA, of which The Bahamas was never a member, with The Bahamas being involved in educational cooperation and Committees established to deepen financial cooperation among CARIFTA states and the Bahamas and to transform CARIFTA into the Caribbean Community. In particular, The Bahamas was even included in a Committee of Attorneys-General tasked with examining the legal implications of forming the Caribbean Community and to draw up a draft Treaty for its formation. In April 1973, at the final meeting of the Commonwealth Caribbean Heads of Government before the establishment of the Caribbean Community, the Conference welcomed the upcoming independence of The Bahamas in July 1973 and looked forward to its participation in the Caribbean Community.8th Meeting of Heads of Government of Commonwealth Caribbean Countries, 9-12 April 1973, Georgetown, Guyana
In late 1974, the Bahamas (as well as Haiti and Suriname) indicated that it would like to join the Community. Bahamian involvement with the Caribbean Community and regional integration continued in the same form after independence and the establishment of CARICOM as had occurred since 1966, with The Bahamas attending the second meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference in 1975 and being involved in the setting up of a special Inter-Governmental Committee on university education.2nd Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, 8-10 December 1975, Basseterre, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla In fact, the original Treaty of Chaguaramas (In Chapter I, Article 2) provided for The Bahamas to automatically join the Caribbean Community and Common Market upon application, with the Bahamas being listed alongside the actual member states as being a state to which membership of the Community may be open to. The final Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community and The Bahamas at which this informal participation by The Bahamas continued was the November 1982 Conference in Jamaica. At the next Conference, The Bahamas was formally admitted as a member of the Community.4th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, 4-8 July 1983, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and Tobago
Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands In December 2022, a Turks and Caicos Islands delegation to the Bahamas had "sought to explore areas to deepen and strengthen the territory’s friendship with the Bahamas” according to the Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands, Nigel Dakin and part of this ambition including joining the Bahamas as a full member of the Caribbean Community. The Turks and Caicos advised the British government of their intention to seek full membership of Community and a letter of entrustment allowing for such negotiation was provided by the United Kingdom on January 24, 2023TCI seeks full CARICOM membershipTCI to become full members of CARICOM Both the British and Bahamian governments have supported the Turks and Caicos bid for full membership.TCI gets nod for CARICOM full membership, but no update as Delegation joins 50th Anniversary meeting
On November 3, 2023 the Governor of Bermuda, Rena Lalgie announced in the government's Throne Speech before the Bermudian House of Assembly that in marking 20 years since Bermuda became an associate member of the Caribbean Community (in July 2003), the Bermudian government would begin a consultation process on attaining full membership of the Community. The Governor further noted that this process would renew the desire of former Bermudian Premier, Dame Jennifer Smith, who wished for Bermuda to attain full CARICOM membership in order to "strengthen the historic, familial, and cultural ties to the Caribbean."Bermuda considering full CARICOM membership
Bermudian Premier, David Burt, in explaining the government's desire to move towards full membership said “We think there are social benefits that could come from that full membership of CARICOM…and so that is something we will undertake in that consultative process as other Caribbean Overseas Territories are looking to advance from Associate members to full members along with Montserrat."
Burt also noted that currently as an Associate Member, there are a number of institutions that Bermuda can participate in and that Bermuda can attend meetings, but that there other institutions that Bermuda is unable to participate in and that Bermuda is unable to participate in any decision making processes at any meetings or in any of the institutions. He reiterated that the government will be engaging in a broad consultative process to explore and discuss questions concerning the implications of full membership and whether or not it makes sense for Bermuda to pursue it.Consultations on Bermuda's Caricom membership plannedBermuda Premier defends move towards full membership of CARICOM
In March 2024, the Premier of the Virgin Islands, Natalio Wheatley indicated that like Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands, the British Virgin Islands were interested in pursuing full membership of CARICOM along similar lines to the Bahamas.Premier eyeing full Caricom membershipVI exploring full membership in CARICOM
Colombia On 9 May 2024 the Colombian Foreign Minister, Luis Gilberto Murillo, requested associate membership of the Community for Colombia via a Diplomatic Note at the 29th Ministerial Meeting of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) held in Suriname.[ Colombia requested membership as an associate member of Caricom https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2024/05/09/colombia-solicito-adhesion-como-miembro-asociado-de-caricom/]
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic cooperates with CARICOM (since 1992) under an umbrella organisation, CARIFORUM, an economic pact between CARICOM and the Dominican Republic with the EU.The EU and Cariforum The Dominican Republic became an Observer of CARICOM in 1982 and in 1991 it presented CARICOM with a request for full membership, having first given consideration to joining the bloc in 1989.Expand CARICOM to include French, Dutch and Spanish It also has an unratified free trade agreement (from 2001) with CARICOM. Within the EPA between the region and the European Commission, the Dominican Republic is given means for dispute resolution with CARICOM member-states. Under Article 234, the European Court of Justice also carries dispute resolution mechanisms between CARIFORUM and the European Union states."Letter: Privy Council and EPA" , October 8, 2009, Jamaica Gleaner This is particularly useful to the Dominican Republic which is not a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice and therefore cannot use the CCJ for dispute resolution with states of CARICOM.
In 2005 the Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic proposed for the second time that the government of the Dominican Republic wished to obtain full membership status in CARICOM. However, due to the sheer size of the Dominican Republic's population and its economy being almost as large as all the current CARICOM states combined and coupled with the Dominican Republic's checkered history of foreign policy solidarity with the CARICOM states, it is unclear whether the CARICOM states will unanimously vote to admit the Dominican Republic as a full member into the organisation. CARICOM has been working at great pains in trying to integrate with Haiti. It has been proposed that CARICOM may deepen ties with the Dominican Republic through the auspice of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) instead, which is an organisation that stops just short of the Single market and economy which underpins CARICOM.